PM LISTS STRONG BANKING SYSTEM AND CONFIDENCE AS PRIORITIES

Tham Choy Lin


BEIJING, Oct 24 (Bernama) - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
said Malaysia must ensure that its banking sector remains strong and also create
confidence in the people that the government is managing the economy
well amid the global uncertainties.

"The banking sector has remained strong... the most important is to create
confidence in our people that we can manage well, that is what we are doing and
they can see," he told newsmen when asked on his priorities for the economy
after launching the Beijing representative office of Khazanah Nasional, the
country's sovereign investment arm.

He said there is no systemic risk in the country's banking and the
government had taken immediate steps to guarantee savings deposits to allay
concerns of the people.

The Prime Minister, who is here to attend the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) summit beginning Friday, said Malaysia was fortunate because of its
strong economic fundamentals that includes a well diversified economy and
strong trade that has chalked up surpluses for over 100 months now.

Strong foreign reserves, high savings, domestic consumption and the opening
up of the services sector also shore up the country's resilience, he
added.

Abdullah said in a move to reprioritise projects announced in the recent
national budget, the government would be looking at high impact projects that
will create jobs and required shorter implementation, to bring benefits to the
people.

"Employment creation and income for the people are important. We are also
helping lower income groups to give them a little more disposable income,
better than what they have before," he said.

He said the government was paying a lot of attention to biotechnology and
agriculture in targeting new growth areas, and would continue to promote
attractive tourism packages to help the industry which would be affected by the
global slowdown.

He said the government would improve existing facilities but "we will not
spend new money to create something new."

-- BERNAMA